Services: Funeral procession from Porter Loring Mortuaries chapel, 1101 McCullough Ave., at 9:30 a.m. today, followed by a Mass at 10 a.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Little Flower, 824 Kentucky Ave.

Her husband may have come up with the idea of emphasizing education to their growing family, but Constance S. Reyna transformed that commitment into meaningful action, her sons said.

“He had the vision, and she was the one who executed it,” said Dr. Richard Reyna, Robert P. and Constance Reyna's third son and the CEO of HealthTexas Medical Group, which operates 15 San Antonio area clinics. “She was the driving force.”

Dr. Rowland Reyna, a son who co-founded HealthTexas with Richard and another brother, Robert S. Reyna, said his mother also exhibited a strength of character that helped him make the right decisions through life.

“She said it doesn't matter what (people) say. It's what you believe,” Rowland Reyna said of his mother's advice after counselors told him he couldn't get accepted at Stanford or other prestigious schools.

“I have that confidence in my life because of my mom and my dad,” Rowland Reyna said.

Constance Reyna died Sunday in San Antonio after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's disease. She was 88.

Aside from motivating her sons, she also made an impact as a receptionist and greeter at one of the HealthTexas clinics.

She was born in San Antonio to Consuelo and Silvestre Sanchez, a caring couple who gave people work at Silvestre's ice house and fed people during the Depression.

A graduate of Fox Tech High School, Constance Reyna completed a two-year vocational education and worked at an auto parts store before marrying Robert P. Reyna and building a family.

Her late husband was a U.S. Postal Service examiner, and the couple lived frugally. Richard Reyna said he remembers having to save their school lunch sacks for reuse and going to different stores for groceries to find the best values.

But he said he and his brothers never felt they lacked anything. When it came to education, they always expected to go to college, unlike other youngsters in their West Side neighborhood, Richard Reyna said.

“It was part of a given,” he said of his parents' attitude. “That's how you pull yourself up, by getting an education.”